Writing to Reach You
by Holz9364
Summary: Spoilers for the season 3 ep with Mashburn. Lisbon & Mashburn write to each other whilst he's in Europe, but how will Jane react? Just a oneshot.


**Writing to Reach You**

_**A/N - Hello guys! This is a fic I've wanted to write ever since I watched the ep with Lisbon & Mashburn. I'm a huge Jisbon fan as you guys all know…BUT I kinda liked the whole Lisbon/Mashburn thing…It worked y'know? And if Jane ever died or ran off to catch RJ or something my next pick for Lisbon would be Mashburn, he's a womaniser but I think he actually cares about her…**_

_**Anyways, enough of my rambling! This fic is just a oneshot. Oh & the title of this fic is from the song "Writing to Reach You" by Travis.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing; if I did Jane would have been way more jealous of the Mash/Lisbon situation!**_

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* * *

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Half past 6...that time again, sitting in my apartment, tapping my foot anxiously, and waiting on a letter that I know might never come. Every morning for the past week I've been disappointed, today is the last day I wait.

6.45...I'm leaving for work in 15 minutes, if the postman doesn't arrive before then its over, the wait is over, I'll accept that the promised letter isn't coming.

6.50... Something is pushed through the letterbox, in a rush I know is too hopeful I run forward, tax forms, the rent for my flat, some junk mail from the TV company I'm with and then something else, a blue envelope with my name on it, could this be it?

I feel like a kid at Christmas as I rip open the letter, as soon as a beautiful gold necklace with a small, simple, but beautiful blue pearl pendant falls out of the envelope I know its from him and with anticipation tingling in my skin I unfold the letter with shaking hands.

_Dear Teresa,_

_I hope this letter reached you quickly. I've been to Italy, France and Germany so far. Italy's pizza wasn't as good as it's advertised to be and did you know not everyone in France wears stripes and funny hats? I tried some snail and let me tell you, never again. Germany is interesting, but all they eat are sausages and they drink a LOT of beer! I found this necklace in a little trinket shop in France and I thought of you, I hope you like it. Week one of Europe is over which means there are 6 weeks to go. The stops for week 2 are Denmark, Norway and Sweden. How many bad guys did you catch this week? Be well. _

_Walter._

The letter was simple, more like a letter from a friend to a friend rather than between lovers, if that's what they were…but it made Lisbon smile and she put the necklace on straight away, in the excitement of getting the letter she had lost track of the time and swore loudly when she realised it was 7.10am and she had to be at work in 20 minutes.

* * *

"Good morning." Lisbon said with a smile as she walked into the bullpen, 10 minutes late.

Rigsby and Cho greeted her with their usual, "Morning Boss." Grace smiled at her in a way that implied she knew why Lisbon was so happy and said, "Morning" cheery as always. Jane on the other hand looked at her oddly and patted the spot next to him on the couch as an invitation for her to sit with him.

She did and as soon as she had sat down he took the necklace in his hand and examined it, "That's a lovely necklace Lisbon, where did you get it?" He asked in that voice that she knew he used when he was curious about something.

Lisbon blushed a little, "Walter sent me it from France." She said as casually as she could, but Jane could tell she was delighted about the gift. Grace of course gushed, "He sent you a necklace all the way from France? Are you two writing to each other? That's _so _romantic."

Lisbon chuckled, "We're only writing to each other as friends Grace." She lied, well maybe Walter was writing to her as a friend, but Lisbon was writing to him as more than that.

Jane hmm-ed, "So what happens when Mashburn comes back from Europe?" He asked, leaning back into the sofa.

Lisbon shrugged, "I don't know." She replied honestly, standing up and heading for her office, "Call me through if you get a case." She told Cho with a small smile and with that she was gone.

* * *

_Dear Teresa,_

_Week 2. Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the girls here just jump all over you! And they are all blonde and blue eyed and sweet and innocent, well they seem to be but its obvious all they're after is my money, I guess even girls in Europe are the same as girls in America in that respect. Denmark was fun, this annoying tour guide told us about this theme park called Tivoli so we went just to see what it was like and it was actually really good, you'd like it, I'll take you there some time. The cheese in Norway is good but everywhere you go there are statues of Vikings, they look quite scary. I would tell you about Sweden but we were only there for one night so all I know is that they have really big Jacuzzis in their 5 star hotels, our schedule is running a little late so I think we'll have to leave out some countries. Jason's shouting at me to hurry up and finish this so I'll leave it here, I'll tell you all about Spain, Portugal and London next week, I hope you like the gift I enclosed with the letter._

_I hope your well, Walter._

Lisbon ran her hand along the bracelet that had been enclosed in the letter, it was silver with little red and black balls throughout it, there was something written on the inside but it wasn't in English so she couldn't make out what it said.

She slipped the bracelet onto her wrist and cursed as she saw the time, yet again she was going to be late for work. She grabbed her bag and hurried down the stairs to her car.

When Lisbon arrived at work that morning, 10 minutes late again, the others seemed to know the reason why, Cho and Rigsby greeted her as they always did, but Grace smiled knowingly at her as she saw the bracelet on her wrist. Jane greeted her with, "Good morning Lisbon, another gift from Mashburn?"

Lisbon nodded, "Yes, he wrote me about his latest adventures in Europe." She informed Jane, handing him a cup of tea in a cardboard cup, Jane opened his mouth to speak, but Lisbon was too quick, "I made sure that the milk went in first and it was stirred 5 times clockwise." Jane eyed her suspiciously, tasted the tea and let out a sigh of contentment. Lisbon rolled her eyes and handed the other 3 Agents coffee, she sipped her own coffee and asked if they had a case.

Grace shook her head, "Not yet, what does Mashburn say to you in his letters?"

Lisbon bit her lip to try to keep herself from smiling like an idiot, "Just what he's been doing in Europe, apparently the cheese in Norway is good and theres a great theme park in Denmark he wants to take me too."

"Hmm, it's called Tivoli, in Copenhagen, it _is _good." Jane commented from his couch.

"You've been?" Lisbon asked.

Jane nodded, "Yeah, family holiday to Denmark." He said, leaving it there, the others didn't ask questions, they knew he didn't like to talk about his family, one day he would be able too, but not yet.

"So has he been telling you about all the European women?" Jane asked, a little bit of bitterness in his voice.

Cho looked up at Jane with a raised eyebrow whilst Grace and Rigsby gaped at the man. Lisbon was shocked and angry, but quickly put on her cool façade.

"As a matter of fact he has." Lisbon said, "He's told me how they all act sweet and innocent to try and get some of his money, he's told me how he's sick of women trying to sleep with him for his money." With that Lisbon turned on her heel and walked into her office.

As soon as the door to Lisbons office shut all hell broke loose in the bullpen, "What the hell was that about?" Grace asked Jane in a tone he had never heard her use.

Jane shrugged, "He's a player, she can act all she wants, but she knows as well as I do that every week he's writing to her he's got a different woman in his bed."

"You don't know that." Rigsby said, defending his boss.

Jane made a face, "Yes I do, players never change."

Grace cut in at that point with a cutting remark that shocked even Jane, "So your still one then? A player never stops being a player yeah?" She said, she was looking at him with a fire in her eyes that he had only seen in Lisbons eyes before.

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Jane asked, sitting up on his couch now and looking at Grace with narrowed eyes.

"You think I didn't research you at all?" Grace asked, scoffing, "I read about all those women of yours, your 'clients' how you cheated on your wife with so many of them. If a player never changes I guess you haven't either." She stood up at that, leaving Jane fuming and the others in shock and made her way to Lisbons office, no one insulted her friends like that and got away with it.

Fuming silently Grace walked into Lisbons office without knocking, as had become a familiar site lately she found Lisbon sitting at her desk sipping her coffee re-reading her letters from Walter Mashburn. She jumped when the door swung open, hitting the wall with a bang.

Grace let out a sigh and closed the door gently, "Sorry." She said sheepishly.

Lisbon frowned, "Whats wrong?" She asked her friend, ever since this Walter business had started she and Grace had gotten closer.

Grace sat down across from her, "I just said some really mean things to Jane." She admitted and Lisbon could tell that Grace was upset about what she had said, it wasn't like her to lose her cool so easy.

"I was so annoyed about what he'd said to you and when he left he kept going on about how Mashburn was a player and players never change, but you've researched him too, you'll know all about him and his women." Grace continued, sighing deeply.

Lisbon nodded, "I know, he had a little side business going on with his clients, he'd sleep with unhappy women whose men worked away from home all the time and they would pay him in return. He has no right to say anything about Walter considering that." She told Grace, gratifying the younger woman's right to insult Jane.

Grace bit her lip, "I know, but I feel bad now for bringing it up, especially with all the Kristina stuff that's going on at the moment."

Lisbon scoffed, "He never loved Kristina, all those 'sparks' between them were because they are very alike, both good at their trade, faking their life, both with hidden agendas, if anything he used her, like he's done with so many others."

"He doesn't have a right to pry into your love life, its your business and its private, but ever since you started getting those letters he's been rude to you and said things he wouldn't have dared to before." Grace said, it was clear that she was confused, but Lisbon knew exactly what Jane was doing.

"He thinks if he annoys me enough and insults Walter enough I'll let it go and stop writing to him, he's jealous that he doesn't get as much of my attention now." Lisbon informed Grace, but the redhead still seemed confused, Lisbon sighed, "Before this started he did bad things to get attention, negative attention, but attention all the same and now I'm happier his doing bad things doesn't get the desired effect anymore, he's like a child."

It made sense, but Grace still thought it was more than that, could Jane be jealous in another way? Could he be jealous that there was another man in Lisbons life for the first time since he had met her? That he wasn't the only man in her life anymore?

* * *

_Dear Teresa,_

_Week 3 has been the best so far. Spain was more like the idea of Europe I had in mind, hot, so we finally got some sunbathing done and the girls in Spain, well they're the same as American girls, as soon as they find out your rich they jump on you. The other guys didn't seem to mind though, they're all out at a party right now, but I have too much business stuff to mail back to the states to have time for fun right now. I'm writing this letter in 3 parts, as I'm in each country I'll tell you about it, so this is Spain, its not as luxurious as I had thought, but it's a nice place to be and the food is good which is always a bonus. I better get back to filling out tax forms, I'll tell you about Portugal when I get there._

_I'm in Portugal, we arrived at the capitol about half an hour ago, Randy got stopped at customs for trying to sneak a suitcase full of beer through so it looks like I'll be sitting here for a while. I WAS going to start with, hey Lisbon I'm in you right now, but I thought that might have sounded a bit strange, so we're in Lisbon, I haven't seen much of it yet since I'm stuck in the airport, but with a name like that its gotta be good! As expected Lisbon is the best destination of the trip so far, I met Cristiano Ronaldo, you know the football player? And the nightlife is pretty good too, but I've only been out one night, the boys are out tonight but I'm working again, it takes a lot of hard work to be this rich. _

_So the final destination of week 3 is London and I gotta be honest with you, its good. It has the best clubs of all the places we've been too, but everywhere you go all you see is people puking up on the streets (not at all attractive) and cops so I guess the locals enjoy the nightlife a little too much. Looking back at this letter its definitely the longest one yet, but the more I write to you the more I find I want to tell you about my 'adventures in Europe' as you like to call them._

_I've enclosed 3 gifts in this letter, one from every country I visited, I think you'll like the Spanish one best. Keep catching bad guys and making California's streets safe._

_Love, Walter._

Lisbon almost squealed when she finished reading the letter, for 2 reasons. 1- it was by far the longest, most detailed and personal letter he had written her and 2- he put 'love' at the end which he had never done before, these things just screamed 'PROGRESS' and not for the first time Lisbon found herself looking forward to the day Walter got back from Europe.

Yet again, for the 3rd time in 3 weeks she was late, but this time she didn't curse, she wasn't at all bothered about her lateness today and as she ran to the car it was with a huge smile on her face.

When she arrived at the office, this time half an hour late it dawned on her that she hadn't even looked at the 3 gifts yet. She walked into the bullpen and greeted everyone, Grace smiled at her and said hello, the boys said good morning and Jane just nodded at her. Ever since the fight last week the atmosphere had been tense, Jane only spoke to Lisbon and Grace about case-related things and tried to stay out of their way in general. The fact that Lisbons office had gone on fire after her computer exploded made this difficult because while repairs were being made she had a desk right next to Janes couch to work at.

Ignoring Janes scrutinising eye, looking over her for anything new she was wearing that could have been a gift from Mashburn Lisbon sat down at her desk and took out the letter, she was aware that Jane and Grace were watching her, but she pretended she didn't know. The 3 gifts fell out of the envelope when she gently tipped it upside down, the first was a napkin with a signature on it, a signature that made Lisbons heart do flips, Antonio Banderas, her favourite actor of all time, Mashburn knew her better than she thought, this was clearly the Spanish gift. There was a small box with a set of blue pearl earrings that matched the necklace that constantly hung around her neck along with a note saying, _'I found these in a little shop in Portugal, they match the necklace perfectly.' _The 3rd gift was another little letter, _'The gift from London is with me and you'll get it in person when I come back.'_

Lisbon smiled at the little letter and put the gifts back into the envelope and into her handbag just in time for Hightower walking in with a case folder, time to get to work.

* * *

_Dear Teresa,_

_Week 4. The tour of Europe has been cut to 7 weeks rather than 8 so I'll see you in 3 weeks. The first stop on week 4 was Austria and we stayed in the capitol Vienna, you know like the Billy Joel song? Its pretty here, very picturesque, I think you'd like it, I enclosed a photo of the area we're staying in, it looks like something out of a Christmas card with all the snow, is it still sunny in California? Its getting colder in Europe. _

_Our second stop was Bulgaria, but we only stayed for one day in the capitol Sofia, I had an imaginary friend called Sofia when I was kid you know? Anyway, we didn't really have a lot of time to spend there but what we did see of it was nice, nothing special though. _

_Our last stop before we jetted off for our week 5 adventures was Greece, well Athens to be more particular but it was by far the most beautiful city I've ever seen, the city of the Gods and all that, but I think you would love Athens to bits, I wanted to bring you back the whole city, but that would be impossible so I enclosed something as close as possible. Its going to sound stupid but travelling Europe with the guys sounded like a dream come true before that last case, going out every night and scoring a new girl, but you made me realise that its more important to find someone who wants you for you not for your money and rather than scoring a new girl every night I've found myself missing the same girl every night. The guys don't know whats happened to me, they think I'm being a complete killjoy, in fact they're winding me up about writing to a girl as I write this so I'll leave my rambling here. _

_See you soon, love, Walter._

Lisbon opened letter number 4 at work, the postman had been late which meant if she'd opened the letter in her apartment she would have been at least an hour late for work so she arrived, only relatively late and sat down at her makeshift desk to read the letter. Grace, being nosy and a hopeless romantic sauntered over and read the letter over Lisbons shoulder. She and Jane were still at odds about whether or not Mashburn was messing Lisbon around so when Grace was finished she loudly gushed, "Oh look at that, the whole time he's been there he hasn't gone out with one girl because he's been missing you."

Lisbon only smiled a little, there was a little part of her that didn't quite believe that, perhaps Jane was right, once a player always a player.

Jane scoffed and made a face at Graces words, "He's lying of course." He said casually and eventually Lisbon snapped.

"You know what I've had enough of your nasty little comments Jane." She said, spinning around in her chair to look at the man, "For the first time in a long-time I'm happy, why can't you just accept that?"

Jane didn't seem bothered by the fact she was shouting at him, he just shrugged nonchalantly, "Because he's a complete loser and you deserve better, I didn't think you were stupid enough to not see it."

Lisbon stood up, fuming now at his words, "So you're calling me stupid as well now? We were fine until these letters started, we fought about Red John occasionally but we were fine, I don't know what the HELL is wrong with you these days!"

Jane stood up too, grabbing his coat, "Has it ever crossed your mind that I'm not fine anymore, that we're not fine anymore BECAUSE those letters started? Because I trusted you, relied on you, thought you weren't the kind of person who flung herself at men for one night stands." Without looking back he walked to the door, "You're not the person I thought you were Teresa." On those last words he walked out of the room, leaving Lisbon and the others speechless.

Grace took Lisbon by the arm and led her into the kitchenette, away from prying ears. Once they were alone and sitting at the small table Grace thought it safe to speak, "He doesn't understand Teresa, it wasn't a one night stand, you have feelings for him and him for you, you're meeting up when he comes back. Don't worry he'll be proven wrong."

Lisbon looked up, no tears in her eyes, just sadness and confusion, "He's acting like he's jealous, but nothing has ever happened between Jane and I, he's always been so hung up on his wife, he always will be, nothing could ever happen between us, I accepted that a long time ago."

Grace sighed, biting her lip, "I think he expected you to wait for him, but he was wrong to expect something like that from you, you've got to move on with your life." She hesitated and then said, "Rigsby expected me to wait a while until one of us moved units and then just jump into his arms but I met Craig and he realised it wasn't going to work that way."

Lisbon sighed, "Yeah, I guess your right Grace, I'm just going to have to accept that things aren't ever going to be the same between us again."

* * *

_Dear Teresa,_

_Week 5 has been very emotional and very shocking. The first country we visited was Belgium and it seemed that everywhere you went there was a statue or a plaque relating to World War 1, did I ever tell you that my grandfather fought and died in World War 1? Well I went off on my own while the boys stayed in the capitol, Brussels. I wanted to find out some things about my Grandfather so I went to see Thiepval memorial and I found his name on it, he died in the battle of the Somme. Everyone might think I'm just some rich womaniser but I do care about my roots, everyone should know where they came from don't you think? But Belgium was definitely a sad trip for me._

_The second place we went too was also pretty depressing, Poland. When you go to Poland no matter how rich and famous and cool you think you are you just have to go to Auschwitz and even the other guys were hit pretty hard with it. Its so cold and creepy and did you know that not even the birds fly over it? You just feel so shivery and clammy and when you get out of the gate and breath fresh air again its such a relief, I don't think I ever want to step foot in that place again._

_On an up note we finished with a great destination, Switzerland. Did you know Switzerland is famous for the fact that's it always been a neutral country? Well you probably did, I mean its kind of common knowledge, but its nice here, its cold and its snowed a few times but its like Austria, its very pretty and picturesque. I'm in a bit of a rush because we catch our plane soon so I'll write to you in a weeks time._

_Love, Walter._

Once again Lisbon had opened the letter at work and a photo of snow covered houses in Switzerland fell out as well as a bar of Belgian chocolate, with a smile Lisbon stashed the chocolate in her bag and put the letter away before Jane walked through the door.

He greeted her with a nod, ever since the fight relationships in the team had been strained to the max, Hightower had noticed but hadn't cut in and asked about it yet which suited Lisbon just fine.

The day went on normally, Jane ignored Lisbon, Lisbon ignored Jane. And then when the case closed pizza arrived everything changed. Lisbon got a text from Walter Mashburn, it said he was calling her in half an hour for a proper catch up, he wanted to hear her voice so he said. So Lisbon rushed off with a grin and Janes mood seriously declined. He didn't eat any pizza, he sat in a silent huff and eventually it was only him and Cho left in the bullpen.

"You've gotta let it go." Cho said, standing over Janes couch.

"Let what go?" Jane asked without even opening his eyes.

"Her." Cho said and as he suspected this got Janes eyes open, he sat up and frowned at Cho, "What are you talking about?" He asked but Cho knew he was playing dumb.

"You can't expect her to wait for you forever, you're going to kill Red John and go to jail or get killed by Red John, either way she loses you and gets hurt. You're bad for her, Mashburn can give her a life, he's good for her, you know that, but you can't accept it so learn to accept it and stop treating her like your worst enemy, she's your best friend." As Jane watched Cho walk out of the bullpen he knew who Cho had been talking about although he had never said Lisbons name. That was perhaps the most he'd ever heard Cho say in one sentence but Lisbons welfare obviously meant a lot to him, they were close and had been on a team together for longer than Jane and Lisbon had.

It was true what Cho had said, Jane was bad for her, but was Mashburn really good for her? That was the part that was hard to accept.

* * *

_Dear Teresa,_

_Week 6. Russia, Turkey and Cyprus. We went to Russia's capitol Moscow and it was freezing, but then again its Winter and Winter in Europe is very different to Winter in California. There are still so many signs of the communism that ruled over Russia for so long in the city but apart from the scary gangsters you see if you go to the wrong areas it was a pretty nice place. Turkey was as you hear about it in the news and papers, a bit of a bad area of Europe really, but from what we saw it was okay, nothing too outrageous and Cyprus was beautiful and a lot warmer than a lot of the places in Europe we've been too. I'm growing tired of it now, I just want to come home. One week left and then I'll see you again, I can't wait to give you London's gift._

_Love, Walter._

Lisbon smiled widely as she put the letter in her bag next to all the others, week 6's gifts had been a key-ring with a sandal on it from Cyprus and a real diamond from Russia, Mashburn spoiled her so much with his gifts but it wasn't like he didn't have the money. For once the postman had been early which meant she wasn't going to be late for a change.

Walking into work on time Lisbon could have let out a sigh of relief when she saw that the work on her office was finished, no more sitting awkwardly in the bullpen with Janes curious eyes on her as she tried to work.

Grinning broadly she walked into her office, put her bag down, sat down at her laptop and was just about to pick up a pen and start on her paperwork when Jane walked into the room.

"What can I do for you Jane?" Lisbon asked in her curt business tone.

Jane didn't look at her, he sheepishly moved from one foot to the other before coughing and saying in a quiet, nervous voice, "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting towards you lately."

The apology surprised Lisbon, but it only showed on her face for a second, when Jane looked up at her she was frowning at him, "And why should I accept your apology?" She asked coldly.

Jane sighed, glancing down at his feet again, "You don't need to accept my apology. I just wanted you to know that I acted the way I did because some foolish part of me thought that you would wait for me but I was wrong to expect that of you. I'm either going to end up in jail for killing Red John or be killed by Red John, either way asking you to wait would be unfair so I'm happy that you've found someone reliable in Mashburn." He said it all very fast and with another small sad smile he walked out of her office, his cheeks slightly pink.

Lisbon waited until the door swung shut to let out her deep sigh, she had been right about the reason for Janes behaviour, but hearing it from him made her feel not only guilty but sad, she had wanted to be with him, at one point she was sure she had loved him, but she realised now, and so did he, that they were bad for each other and Mashburn…well he was good to her.

* * *

_Dear Teresa,_

_Week 7 is over. As I write this I'm in a waiting room in Dublin airport waiting for a flight to Heathrow. Its going to be a long process before I get back to California. Dublin to Heathrow, Heathrow to LA and then LA to San Francisco and a drive to Sacramento, but I'll get there in the end. This letter will probably reach you before I do but you'll see me soon I promise._

_We only had two stops rather than three this week, Iceland and Ireland. Iceland wasn't full of ice and snow as expected, but there are a lot of volcanoes and let me tell you, up close they are pretty damn scary. Ireland was pretty much a 3 day boozer, they were walking around drunk at half one in the afternoon which was amusing but everyone in Ireland was nice and it was easy to make friends, I met a guy who knew you, Sammy Jackson? Apparently he's your cousins boyfriend, but when he asked if I was 'involved' with you and I said yes he laughed for about 10 minutes and said he thought you were into the more rough type, am I not rough enough for you Teresa? ;). I got talking to him and met his girlfriend, your cousin Laura, she's really nice by the way, anyway if I don't hurry up I'm going to miss the plane. See you soon._

_Love, Walter._

"Grace…" Lisbon said as she walked into the bullpen the letter still in her hand, along with a 4 leaf clover charm bracelet from Ireland.

Grace looked up at Lisbon and smiled when her friend handed her the letter, she scanned it quickly and her eyes widened, "He's coming back today?" She asked.

Lisbon nodded as she slipped the charm bracelet onto her wrist, next to the other bracelet she had gotten from Mashburn which she wore everyday.

"He called Sacramento home, but isn't he from LA or something?" Grace asked and Lisbon nodded again, "Yeah, I thought that was weird too, but he has a house in San Francisco, that's probably what he meant."

Grace read over the letter again, "So what do you think this gift from London that he cant wait to give you is?" She asked curiously.

Lisbon shook her head, "Honestly? I have no idea." She said, sitting on the edge of Graces desk.

"It could be anything." Grace agreed.

Lisbon opened her mouth to agree but someone spoke before her, "You'll find out in a few seconds." A familiar voice said, causing Lisbons head to spin around.

Walter Mashburn was leaning in the doorframe of the bullpen, Lisbon smiled widely when she saw him, "You're back." She said.

Mashburn nodded, "Yeah and I have that really important gift for you." He said with a cheeky smile that reminded her of Janes mischievous smiles.

Lisbon walked forward eagerly, but suspiciously, "Alright then, what is it?" She asked, she didn't seem to mind that the whole team were watching the scene. Thankfully she didn't look at Jane because if she had seen those sad eyes she might have acted differently to Mashburn's next words.

Still smiling Mashburn pulled a box out of his pocket and went down on one knee, Lisbons jaw dropped and she stared at him hardly believing that this was happening to her. He opened the box and Lisbon saw a beautiful gold ring with a small, simple diamond shining inside it.

"I know its been 2 months since you saw me and before then we hadn't gotten to know each other very well, but in the letters we've written to each other I feel like I've come to know you better than I've ever known a woman in my life and I'd like to think you feel the same about me. So Teresa Lisbon will you be my wife? Not right now, not even soon, in a couple of years maybe, but one day will you become my wife?" Mashburn asked, he seemed so sincere, looking at her with eyes full of hope, worry and there was even a little bit of nervousness there, something she had never seen in those eyes.

Lisbon stared at him for a moment, a million thoughts running through her head, the main one being, 'what about Jane? Oh god, what about Jane?' but after thinking it all through in the space of 5 seconds Lisbon remembered her conversation with Jane about how he was bad for her and Mashburn was good for her. So she smiled broadly down at Mashburn, "Yes." She said happily and Mashburn grinned back, standing up, slipping the ring on her finger and kissing her.

In that kiss Lisbon knew she had done the right thing and when they broke apart Lisbon wrapped her arms around him, glad she was facing the wall and not the bullpen, she didn't think she could look into Janes eyes without feeling guilty at this moment in time.

Mashburn pulled back from the hug and grabbed Lisbons hand, he turned to the team, "How about drinks on me to celebrate?" He grinned at them.

"We're working." Lisbon reminded him but Mashburn shrugged, "I can fix that." He said, he kissed Lisbon lightly on the lips, "Give me 5 minutes with her and you'll have the afternoon off." He winked at Lisbon and walked away in the direction of Hightower's office.

As soon as he was gone Grace had practically jumped on her, hugging her and saying congratulations and Lisbon couldn't help but grin, she felt ecstatic in this moment. Rigsby smiled at her and said congrats and even Cho gave her a small smile and a congratulations.

Jane stood up from the couch, looked at her for a long moment, walked over, wrapped his arms around her and whispered into her ear, "Congratulations Lisbon, you deserve this."

His approval meant a lot to her and tears of gratitude welled up in her eyes as she nodded at him. He nodded back and made his way back over to his couch.

At that moment Mashburn walked into the bullpen, "You now all have the afternoon off, ready to go out and celebrate?" He asked.

Rigsby grinned, "I'm in." He said, standing up and grabbing his coat. Grace nodded, "Me too, I'm going to call Craig and tell him all about this!"

Mashburn smiled, "Invite O'Laughlin, me and him go way back."

Grace seemed surprised, "You and Craig know each other?" She asked.

Mashburn nodded, "Oh yeah, I helped him out on a case one time, I was a suspect in it too, I love being a suspect in murder cases, its so much fun."

Cho had put his coat on too, the 5 of them all looked at Jane who smiled, "Oh, you guys go ahead." He said and before Mashburn could try and tempt him into coming along Lisbon put her hand on his arm and gave him a look, he seemed to understand and nodded, "Alright, see you around Jane." He said and with that the group left.

Once the elevator had left and Jane was alone he let the tears that wanted to fall, fall. He had lost his wife and he had lost Lisbon, but at least Lisbon was happy, she was still alive and she was going to live her life to the full, just not with him.

As Mashburn drove the team to his favourite bar in Sacramento Lisbons emotions were up and down and all over the place. To the others she seemed fine, perfectly happy with her hand entwined in Mashburn's on the gearstick, but inside she felt bad for Jane, she wished it had been simpler, wished that there was some way she and Jane could be together but she was happy with Mashburn and she was beginning to fall hard for him.

It seemed that life for Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon had never been and would never be easy.

_**The End!**_

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****A/N - Aghhh don't hate me! No happy ending for Jane I'm afraid =[ but it isn't fair for him to expect Lisbon to wait for him when she might be waiting in vain so I think she should be happy and could be with Mashburn.**_

_**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot, thanks for reading! xx**_


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